Die!
by Notsocoolio
Summary: If Katsuki could tell you one thing about himself: it was that he was strong, and that he was smart. He worked hard, he studied hard, and he had talent. The only thing he didn't have was a quirk, but that wouldn't get in the way of anything.
1. Chapter 1

" _These days, kids usually have two joints in their pinky toes," the doctor said, tapping the chart behind him. "As you can see, your son only has one joint. About 20% of the population does."_

 _He was getting impatient, wanting to yell at the old man to just get to the point already, but his father spoke first._

" _And this means…?"_

" _Your son is quirkless," the doctor said gravely._

 _It dawned on Katsuki, then. Why no one was scared of him anymore, why Deku looked down on him._

 _Why he didn't have his quirk yet._

 _And for the first time since he was a baby, he cried._

* * *

 __Katsuki awoke, his breath hitching in his throat.

Delirious, he looked around his room, but nothing was different, no white walls, and no doctors. There was only his small white blanketed bed, his single All-Might poster, and his wardrobe.

He sighed, and fell back onto his bed.

Dammit, he hated that nightmare! Usually he slept fairly well, but on some days he'd wake up in a cold sweat like this one, and it made him feel weak. He always felt like Deku.

"Fuck!" he swore aloud.

He usually did this in the mornings, but this time he must've been too loud, because his mom came bursting into his room.

"Katsuki! Don't wake up at three in the morning and start yelling!"

"What are you even doing home, hag?! Aren't you working nights?!" he yelled, sitting up.

"I got the night off, brat! Now go back to sleep or-what the hell did you call me, brat?!"

His mom marched to his bed and smacked him upside the head.

She walked out again and yelled, "Now sleep!" before slamming the door.

Katsuki fumed, not wanting to do as she said, but flopped back anyway, and pulled the sheets up before falling soundly asleep.

He was awoken three hours later at the sound of his alarm.

He slammed his hand down on the annoying thing, and slipped out of his bed. He opened a drawer on his dresser, pulled a shirt out, and closed it.

He yawned and scratched his stomach while walking out into the hallway to the bathroom. He looked at his mom's bedroom door, still a little peeved, but then sighed, knowing that she was just tired from overwork. Her door was across the hall from his, and the bathroom was on the left, so he ducked into the bathroom quietly, not wanting to wake her.

He brushed his teeth, and slipped off his pajama pants before slipping on his shirt and pulling his uniform off the hook on the door, and putting it on.

He walked out of the bathroom, down the hall, and into the kitchen and pulled out a bowl and cereal. He crouched down to the refrigerator door, and pulled out some milk, sniffed it, and poured it atop his cereal.

He opened the drawer to his right and pulled out a spoon, put everything away, walked into the attached living room, and plopped onto the couch.

He turned on the TV to soccer and watched it calmly for a bit, munching on his cereal, before screaming suddenly, "That was obviously cheating, asshole! You can't just use your quirk!"

Once again, he woke his mother, and Katsuki heard her slam her bedroom door. She stomped into the living room, yelled at him, and left to get ready for work.

Katsuki finished his cereal, turned off the game, and cleaned his bowl in the kitchen. He set the bowl on the drying rack, grabbed his bag, and left the house without even saying goodbye.

He walked to school, and sat down in his seat, dropping his bag next to him.

He got to school early every day, so he could avoid those quirk assholes who think they can just beat him up.

Usually he proves them otherwise, with his fighting skills, strength, and intellect, but other times, they're just too powerful.

He fumes at the thought, and kicks the desk in front of him.

He also goes early to avoid Deku. He doesn't want to see that bastard anymore than he wants to see the bullies at his school. It wasn't like they lived close together anymore, anyway, but it was just a habit, and he could never be too safe.

Deku pretty much vanished off the face of the Earth since Katsuki moved to a shittier block than him, and switched schools.

They couldn't pay to live in his old house anymore, after all, since his dad left.

The thought just pissed him off even more. _That fucking deadbeat, thinking he can just leave us since his son ended up a failure…_

Katsuki growled, but tried to keep his composure as more kids started walking in.

Eventually class started, and Katsuki pulled out his notebook to take some notes.

The day went smoothly, Katsuki only leaving the classroom to sneak off to the roof that he had busted the lock to, and finally it was time to get home.

Katsuki yawned, tired. He had had to stay back and clean the classroom by himself, because the asshole that was _supposed_ to do it with him bailed. Katsuki would've beat that kid to a pulp if he didn't already have enough suspensions and detentions under his belt to get him expelled.

Katsuki walked under the bridge that was on his way home, but was stopped suddenly by something snaking its way around his ankle.

"Sorry to say this, boy, but I'm gonna have to take over your body, OK?" the sludge monster said, grinning.

Katsuki growled and yelled as the sludge snaked its way up his body and finally completely enveloped him.

He thrashed, and almost ripped his way out of the monster's grasp many times, but still he could barely breath, being held so tight, and most of the time his mouth being covered.

"Quite the fighter, aren't we? If you weren't quirkless, you'd be the perfect boy to take over, since you're so strong."

The sludge creatures words really pissed Katsuki off then, and he was about to bite into the substance, when suddenly the manhole cover flew off, and a giant man stepped out.

Katsuki ripped his head out of the sludge, yelling, but suddenly stopped when he saw who stood in front of him.

"Never fear! All Might is here!" the giant man, All Might, roared, smiling.

"All Might!" the sludge monster startled, suddenly scared.

All Might charged the sludge monster, and yelled, "Texas Smash!"

All Might's signature punch blew away the sludge from around Katsuki's body. And even though he had just been saved, Katsuki was horribly angry, clenching his fists and shaking.

"It's all right to be scared, boy, but I must be going now!" All Might bellowed. Discreetly, he wiped a dribble of blood off his mouth.

As he turned to leave, Katsuki yelled, "Wait!"

All Might turned to the boy, thinking, _shit._

"I didn't need to be saved by your quirky ass! I could've done just fine on my own!" Katsuki cried, looking up, tears welling in his eyes.

The boy startlingly reminded All Might of himself when he was a teenager. Quirkless and angry, he had been, and this boy acted just like he did.

Katsuki wiped his eyes, ashamed.

"Whatever," he grumbled, turning. "Just go! I don't give a shit."

All Might felt bad for the boy, but knew from experience how little he wants pity.

All Might left, jumping high into the sky, flying to some building top somewhere to de-transform, not noticing that he hadn't cleaned up the sludge bits, or that they were gathering again, far away from him or Katsuki.

Katsuki grumbled. He hated being saved, even though subconsciously he knew that he needed it. Katsuki grabbed his dropped bag, and started making his way home, until he felt a buzz in his pocket.

 **From: Old Hag**

 _ **Bring home some eggs, curry, and vegetables, brat. I'll repay you.**_

He replied with a simple, _OK, Bitch_ , and left on his way to the store, which was in the exact opposite direction of his house, but he didn't care.

On his way there, he stopped at the arcade and virtually beat the hell out of some villains. An hour later, after beating the high score on his favorite game (again), he finally left and went to the store.

Unluckily, there was a crowd around the grocery store.

"Where's All Might?!"

"Look! That monster has a boy!"

"Why aren't the heroes doing anything?!"

Katsuki's head roared at all of the loud voices around him, and he was about to just leave, when he heard something:

"Izuki!"

Katsuki stopped in his tracks and turned. He peered through the crowd, and spotted the villain. It was the sludge monster from before, but this time he had someone with a quirk, and bits of dust and debris floated everywhere.

Suddenly, the monster turned, and Katsuki spotted a messy tuft of black-green hair, and a familiar face, trying to rip himself from the monster's grasp.

Katsuki didn't hesitate a second, and pushed through the crowd of people, taking a running jump onto the monster.

The monster let out a gurgling laugh as it swiped a goopy arm at Katsuki. He growled and rolled out of the way, landing on his feet and running towards the monster, the monster's arm following him.

Luckily, the thing was horribly stupid, and punched itself in the face as Katsuki fell onto his stomach, and he jumped up to rip Deku out of the goop while there was an opening.

Some of the sludge splattered on open electric wiring, which sparked and exploded. The lines snapped like whips and nearly hit Katsuki, as he scrambled out of the way so he wouldn't be electrocuted.

Katsuki's hands twitched in angry revulsion as the monster laughed grossly again, swiping its dripping arm at Katsuki when-

"Detroit smash!" a voice bellowed.

A giant fist shot out in front of Katsuki, and the monster exploded for the second time that day. The air spun in a giant whirlwind, and when it stopped, it started to rain.

All Might stood in front of Katsuki, a huge grin on his face, and opened his mouth to say something, but Katsuki wasn't interested.

He turned around to look at Deku, but he was already bombarded by paramedics, and soon Katsuki was being dragged by one as well.

He was sat down in an ambulance, and was scolded for his stupidity while having his cuts and bruises patched up.

Eventually, they were finished yelling at him, and he went to the the store. He got what he needed, and finally started making his way home.

But, to his major annoyance, he was stopped once again, by All Might.

"My boy! I've been waiting for you-" he started, but was cut off.

"Don't spout shit! You were off your game today, what's wrong with you? You wouldn't usually let a villain go like that, would you? And don't think I didn't see that blood coming from your mouth when you fought him! Even now, you're steaming!" Katsuki ranted, angry.

All Might was startled at this boys perceptiveness, and sighed. "Yes, I've been off my game lately. Remember that time five years ago where I was off the grid for a few months?"

Katsuki nodded, "After toxic Chainsaw."

"Yes. Well, shortly after that I was in a different fight, and," he paused. Steam blew out from his body, and when it cleared, there was a skinny, creepy-looking man in his wake. "I became like this."

Katsuki screamed, shocked, and asked, "Why?!"

Toshinori lifted his shirt, "I was injured. It practically shattered my body, and even now I can only maintain being a hero for three hours a day."

Katsuki was shocked, to say the least, but on top of that, this revelation just made him even more angry, "If you're so pathetic now, why did you keep wasting your energy on me?! I can do fine _on my own_!"

Toshinori looked at the boy, eyes full of understanding, and when Katsuki looked up, eyes full of tears, Toshinori spoke, "Boy, do you want to be a hero?"

Katsuki looked down, a tear slipping out of his eye and trailing down his face, "Not anymore."

"Well, I hope you know you look down when you lie."

Katsuki looked up, startled, and Toshinori wanted to laugh at how surprised the boy looked.

"I know you do. I know you probably try so hard every day. I know you want to be like everyone else, I know you want a quirk, I know you want to be powerful."

Katsuki grit his teeth, "How?"

"Because I understand. I was like you once, quirkless and angry at the world."

Katsuki burst out, "Yeah right!"

"No, I really do. The real name for my quirk is 'One For All'," Toshinori said.

"One For All?" Katsuki repeated.

"Yes, this quirk is passed from person to person, getting stronger each time it's passed. I've been looking for a successor."

"And why do you think _I_ qualify?" Katsuki asked sarcastically.

"Because you jumped into that dangerous situation today just to save that boy, even though everyone else was scared stiff. You're brave, and that's what it means to be a hero."

"So, does that mean…?"

"Yes. You can be a hero."

Even though it was horribly degrading, Katsuki fell to his knees, and cried. Toshinori looked down at him.

It only took a minute for Katsuki to compose himself, and he asked, "How do I get this power?"

"You need to consume some of my DNA…" Toshinori trailed off, scratching his cheek.

"What does that mean?"

"You'll have to eat my hair."

"What?!"


	2. Chapter 2

After eating All Might's hair, Katsuki felt stronger. Scratch that, Katsuki felt _strong_. In general. The feeling coursing through his chest made him realize just how powerless he had been. Just how _weak_ he had never wanted to be, but became anyway. He felt like his life had been restored.

Before, he had only been living for two things: his mom, and the delusions he liked to call hope.

Another thing going through Katsuki's mind was: _Fuck you Dad! See how useless I am now!_

And then he felt triumphant. He had won.

Against prejudice, against the dicks at his school, and against Deku. Before Katsuki knew he was quirkless, he had always thought Deku to be weak. A pushover. But then finally, over the years, Katsuki had started to understand Deku. How it felt to be bullied, to be a scapegoat. To be weak.

But that didn't mean anything to Katsuki. Empathy was an emotion he was selectively devoid of, and that definitely applied to Deku.

Katsuki's inner rant was cut off when the power rush faded. Then, he was thinking _shit_.

"I don't feel any stronger!" Katsuki yelled.

"Well, you shouldn't! Not for another few hours at least," Toshinori chuckled, expecting this.

Katsuki grunted, angered but understanding, and then huffed.

"So, what exactly is this quirk anyway? Am I taking your quirk from you? Are you only sharing a portion and I'll need more DNA later?" Katsuki asked impatiently.

"This quirk is called 'One For All'. Many predecessors before me have passed this quirk along, and each time it's passed, it gets stronger. The power is exactly what you might see on TV of me doing. It's basically super strength, giving you powerful and fast limbs that surpass many human boundaries. You will need time to get used to using the quirk, though. Right now it's like a glass filled to the top, and you need to make the glass bigger," Toshinori explained, raising his hand.

"So I need to train more?" Katsuki said. It was more of a statement than a question anyway, being quite blunt and rhetorical, the answer obvious. Knowing All Might though, he wasn't surprised to get a full-blown answer.

"Yes! Normally I would've had you condition your body before giving you this power, but it seems you are already fully fit! I saw you fight against that sludge monster, and you did well for having no quirk. And your number one selling point was your bravery and tenacity to save that boy. You didn't hesitate at all to rush into the battle that even pro-heroes were having trouble fighting, and you held him back long enough for me to get in there. Even when you were being scolded, you showed no regret for your actions, no matter how much you could've been hurt," Toshinori praised, smiling the best he could in his tiny, frail body.

Katsuki blushed, and wanted to start yelling before his phone rang.

He pulled it out of his pocket, and flipped it open. He raised it to his ear, and heard enraged, effeminate screeching.

"Katsuki! Where are you?! Get your ass home! I told you hours ago what groceries we needed, and I haven't even been able to start dinner yet! COME HOME NOW!" his mother yelled.

"I'll be there in sec, old hag!" Katsuki growled and flipped his phone closed, effectively cutting off his mom's screeches.

Katsuki grunted a goodbye, and Toshinori told him the place and time they would meet for training.

Katsuki grabbed his groceries off the ground, and raced home. 

* * *

A week later, when his mom would finally let him out of the house for anything but school, Katsuki met Toshinori on the beach.

It was after noon on a Saturday, and Katsuki was pissed. He wanted to be at the arcade for the first time in two weeks, but All Might wouldn't let him. He had to be at this stupid, dirty beach.

"So? What are we doing here?" Katsuki grumbled to Toshinori once he had walked up to the thin man.

Toshinori sighed, somehow already used to the boys horrible behavior, and felt no reason to be any more polite than the boy had been to him. "For the next few months until the UA exams, you'll be moving all the trash off this beach."

Katsuki grunted, and shoved up his sleeves. Toshinori could see faint scars around the boy's wrists, likely burn wounds. He decided he would ask later. 

* * *

It had been a few months, and time hadn't flown by like Katsuki had been expecting.

The work had been hard at first, only made harder by the strict schedule made by Toshinori, and Katsuki was unable to follow it.

Katsuki couldn't afford the healthy food listed for him to eat, and he finished his homework faster than the schedule depicted.

Many adjustments were made.

Even more than that, as Katsuki got used to the hard, tedious work, Toshinori only made it worse by adding extra weights, or making him pull more than one thing at a time.

On top of even that, Katsuki kept his original workout schedule going on top of Toshinori's. He would run in the morning (way earlier than before) and would still lift weights after school when he was done his homework. He also cut off some hours of sleep to study for the written exams, and even studied when he was working out, if at all possible.

He adjusted to eating less, not wanting to lose any of his body's natural speed and flexibility by becoming too muscular, and had to eat just a _bit_ less than he was supposed to with how much he was working out.

Despite all of this, Katsuki never complained, never showed any signs of giving up, and never lost to his weakness, always staying on his feet, and always working hard. His grades improved even more than they already were, and he hit the second highest on the end-of-term exams, off by only a point for the bonus question that he had ignored.

Katsuki was beyond proud of himself, and despite all of the hard work, he was happy. It was slow-going, but the feel of his muscles burning, of his heart racing, of his brain working the hardest it could, was something he relished. Katsuki loved to push himself, he loved to feel himself getting stronger, and loved to feel like the strongest.

Katsuki knew that he was ready for the exams, and so did Toshinori.

Even more than Katsuki, Toshinori was beyond proud of Katsuki. The boy's improvement was tremendous! And his drive was remarkable, being able to withstand all of that stress, yet never complaining.

The last night of training, Toshinori drove down to the beach to meet Katsuki and take away the trash he had brought away from the shore, but found him lying on the clear shore, the trash piled high on the parking lot.

Toshinori rushed to Katsuki, only to find him sleeping soundly, the waves lapping at his sides.

Toshinori transformed, and laughed a booming laugh, only to shut up when Katsuki grumbled and shifted.

He walked to the parking lot, and lifted as much of the giant trash pile that he could fit in the truck, and placed it on the bed.

He drove away, brought it to the nearest dump, and came back, repeating the process until it was done.

Once again, Toshinori walked up to Katsuki, only to nudge him awake this time.

Katsuki startled, shooting up and turning to All Might.

"My boy! You have done well! I wasn't expecting for you to-" All Might de-transformed, hacking blood.

Katsuki growled, "You weren't expecting me to _what?_ Finish? Of course I'd fucking finish! I'm not weak anymore!"

"Anymore?" Toshinori asked.

"Yeah! I have a quirk now! I'll fucking show those assholes that never believed me when I said I'd be a hero!"

Toshinori pondered for a minute while Katsuki raged, and then opened his mouth. "Katsuki?"

Katsuki stopped mid-rant, a little surprised at the gentle tone. He grunted in acknowledgement.

"Did you give those scars to yourself?"

Katsuki startled, and then growled, "I might've been a little weak compared to others, but I wasn't some fucking pussy!"

Toshinori sighed, and asked, "Then where did you get them?"

Katsuki, for once, said something quietly, "When my dad left, he told me that I was useless and stupid, and then 'demonstrated' his quirk to me. By grabbing my wrists and exploding them."

All Might was in shock. He hadn't expected the boy to have such a hard past. To be honest, he just seemed like some angry spoiled brat, and maybe if he had been born with a quirk he would have been. But in this reality, he had had a hard life, and despite all that, Toshinori knew that the boy was too strong-willed to let it get to him.

"Why the fuck are you looking at me like that?" Katsuki growled.

"No reason! I was just admiring how strong you are!" Toshinori said, knowing that would please the boy.

Katsuki blushed a little, and then grinned, "Of course I am. If I wasn't strong, how would I be able to train with a dumb bastard like you?"

Toshinori laughed, and knew he had picked the right disciple.


	3. Chapter 3

The day after Bakugou finished his training came the entrance exams. Now, Bakugou was standing in front of the place he had thought he would only be able to reach in his dreams.

' _I am going to wreck this test!'_ Bakugou thought. _'I_ will _make it out on top, and I_ definitely _won't going to lose to fucking_ Deku. _Or_ anyone!'

After thoroughly assuring himself, he took his first steps into the giant high school.

...And walked right smack dab into somebody.

Katsuki growled, snapping his head up. "What the hell..!"

"K-Kacchan! What are you doing here?" Deku stuttered.

"What the fuck do you think I'm doing, shitnerd," Katsuki sighed dryly, walking ahead of the boy.

Deku stood and stared for a moment, before jogging a bit to catch up. "You shouldn't talk to people like that you know, and what I mean is, why are you taking the tests? You could-"

Katsuki cut him off, annoyed. "Get hurt? Yes, I'm aware, and so will you, with your lame quirk."

"Well, it's not like yours is much better…"

"I'm also aware of that, Deku. But yours is only _this_ -" Katsuki pinched his fingers together, "-much better than having none."

"Rude! I'll have you know, I've been training my quirk a lot for the past few months!"

"And you probably never thought to train your body, did you?"

Deku was pointedly quiet for a moment, looking away, but then he remembered something, his eyes lighting up for a moment. "Kacchan! I wanted to thank you for what you did a few months ago."

"What?" Katsuki drawled, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Rushing in to save me, with the sludge villain. I'm truly grateful to you for doing that for me. You rushed in to save me without even thinking about your safety, while all those heroes were just standing by, unable to do anything. You bought All Might more time to get there, which saved me, because otherwise I would've suffocated," Deku said, looking up at Katsuki.

Katsuki grunted, preparing to say something, when he realized that they were there. In the testing room. He realized that they were about to start the test that would change his life.

Inwardly, Katsuki wanted to roll around screaming, have a panic attack, and then cry. But, at the same time he _was_ Bakugou Katsuki, and he had just inherited a quirk from All-fucking-Might, which obviously meant that he was the strongest and that he was about to win. _Or die,_ his mind supplied, but he shoved that down the deepest, darkest pit of his mind, where he kept most of his weak thoughts, as Katsuki puts it.

He was quite annoyed with himself as he sat down, he didn't know why he was so nervous. And the anxiety that it caused made him deepen his scowl subconsciously, which would probably scare anyone but Deku.

"Kacchan, are you okay?" Deku asked.

"Fine," Katsuki grunted. "And you're welcome."

"Huh?"

"For-"

"WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO MY LIVE SHOW! EVERYBODY SAY HEEEEEEEY!" the entrance exam tester, Present-mic, greeted the room way-too-loudly.

Katsuki growled, covering his ears. He had always hated Present-Mic, the man being too stupid and loud. To Katsuki, it seemed like the man put no thought into what he said and did (and while he isn't wrong, Katsuki doesn't realize that he's pretty much the angry version of Present-Mic).

Thankfully, the man quieted down a bit, noticing the grimaces of the students in the audience. "I'm gonna give you the low-down on how this'll go down! Are you ready?! I've got shivers down my spine, too, listeners! All right, examinees…! YEAH!"

On the side, Katsuki could hear Deku gushing about the hero, and about his radio show, or something. He gave Deku a solid "shut up" before turning back to the Examiner.

"NOW PLAY CLOSE ATTENTION, LISTENERS! We'll be testing your mettle by running a ten-minute practice run at our replica city-district! You can take whatever you like! Everybody gather at their designated meeting area after the presentation, ya dig?"

"They're not letting friends or classmates test together, are they?" Katsuki asked Deku.

Deku shook his head, and Present-Mic continued talking.

"We'll be sprinkling a large number of 'villains' over the battlefield! And they'll appear in three different varieties, with point values scaled according to difficulty! Using each of your individual quirks, dispatch as many 'villains' as you can! Your goal, is to rack up a high score! And don't think about directly attacking any other competitors or any of that nasty anti-hero stuff, because that's against the rules, capiche?!"

Katsuki clicked his tongue, and Deku chuckled a little next to him, having heard Katsuki's obvious disappointment.

One student in the crowd stood and raised his hand, "Excuse me, may I ask a question?!"

Bakugou scoffed, his nervousness sipping away at the sight of the nerd. At least he couldn't look like quite as much of an idiot as this guy.

"On the hand out, there are clearly four types of villains listed! Such an error would be the height of embarrassment for such a top-tier academy such as UA! The reason we are seated here today is because we seek guidance on becoming model heroes!" the middle-aged looking kid stopped for a second, and then started again, sweeping his hand to point at Deku and Katsuki. "Moreover, what's with you?!"

Deku startled, pointing at himself and choking out a "huh?!"

"Yeah, you, curly-haired kid! Can't you sit still for a second… You're distracting! If you think UA is some pleasure jaunt, leave this place at once!"

The middle-aged kid made Katsuki angry, and he stood up. "Hah?! Who the fuck's talking, oldie?! Are you even young enough to be here? You look middle-aged, and besides that, you shouldn't be talking! Did you just delay the whole test just to fucking scold a kid?"

The middle-aged kid looked startled, "I'll have you know-!"

Present-Mic raised a hand, and cut him off. "Okay, okay! That's enough! Thanks for the segue, examinee number 7111! The fourth type of villain you'll encounter is worth zero points! Let's call them 'arena traps'! Have any of you ever played Super Mario Brothers before? You remember those things that'd go 'thwomp' on you? There's a thing like that in each area! Their 'gimmick' is that they rampage when crowded!"

The middle-aged kid seems satisfied, though also annoyed, shooting pointed looks at Katsuki, and bows deeply, yelling "Thank you very much! I apologize for being rude!"

Bakugou made a point of being extra obnoxious when he leaned over to Deku and somewhat-whispered, "He should 'apologize for being rude' to you, too, Deku."

Deku scratched his head, looking sheepish, and stuttered out an "I-it's fine!"

"Well, that's enough from me! I'll leave you all with a presentation on the 'school precepts' of this academy of mine! As a certain 'hero' by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte once said: "A true hero never stops overcoming the misfortunes in life!" Now to the main event! PLUS ULTRA! And may you all suffer gladly the trials to come!"

Katsuki heard a gasp, and looked over to Deku, and saw him looking particularly inspired, a crooked smile forming on his lips. 

* * *

Katsuki looked around, seeing a bunch of unfamiliar faces. It wasn't like he was expecting to recognize anyone, but he had to be sure no one from his school or his old elementary school saw him.

Katsuki sighed, relieved, and started stretching, when a hand came down on his shoulder.

Katsuki turned around, and came face-to-face with the dick from earlier.

"Who exactly are you, my friend? You didn't come here to obstruct our fellow test takers, did you?" the middle-aged boy said.

"No, I'm here to take the fucking test, dipshit, and don't fucking call me your friend," Katsuki said, shrugging the hand off his shoulder.

The man/boy glared at him, pushing up his glasses. Katsuki scoffed and glared equally, if not more so, as harshly as the other boy did.

An eternally-smiling blonde behind them shuddered.

"That's the violent kid that's been yelling and swearing since he got here, which means there's _another_ rival to worry about!" he muttered.

The crowd seemed to radiate the words 'unlucky' as Katsuki glared at the glasses kid/man, and he smirked, pleased that he managed to intimidate them.

Katsuki notices Present-Mic standing up on top of one of the buildings, and knows it's bound to start soon, but keeps his attention on the man/boy, making sure that he doesn't notice.

The moment Present-Mic opens his mouth a says, "AAAAND START!" Katsuki is off, leaving a shocked man/boy staring at his dust.

Katsuki raced ahead of the others, having started before they did, and raced into the heart of the city-area.

Katsuki still didn't know how to use his quirk, so he raced to a one-pointer.

He dodged it's swift, metal claw, ducking underneath, and pushed up against its arm, hard. The arm snapped up and off with the pressure, and Katsuki dodged the nother arm, before pulling it against his body, and using his momentum to push the robot up and over his head, smashing it on the ground.

Katsuki raced off, and having beaten a one-pointer, he jumped onto the nearest two-pointer's tail. He used all of his strength, and the momentum from the robot swishing it around to rip the tail off. He gripped the disembodied tail in his hands, raised it above his head, and brought it crashing down onto the steel creature. It smashed through the creature's neck, and Katsuki grinned.

He turned, ready to beat down another robot, but all he saw were the decimated bodies of former opponents, and he growled.

"It's impressive how you beat those two without using your quirk, but you took too long! Everyone has taken out the rest of them!" the man/boy cackled triumphantly, proudly pushing up his glasses.

Katsuki ignored him and ran, spotting movement behind a nearby building. He found two three-pointers, and no one else was around. He looked around the area, and came up with a plan.

Katsuki braced himself, and ran in front of the alley, both of them catching his body with their cameras and following him. Katsuki raced out into the open, both of them swerving around each other as they followed him, and he stuck close to the walls. At the exact moment they were both in the middle of swerving around the other, Katsuki steered into a thin alleyway next to him.

They both tried to follow, but their momentum from before made one steer too far, right into the other robot.

They both crashed into each other and blew up. _Six points for Bakugou Katsuki,_ he thought.

Then, he heard screaming, and a giant crash. The feeling of triumph washed away, and Katsuki raced to the sound, finding a crowd of test-takers running away from a humongous zero-pointer. Katsuki clicked his tongue and was about to follow, thinking how absurd the test was, when he heard a small, effeminate shout, followed by quiet "ow…"

Katsuki turned and saw a small, round-faced girl pushing herself up from the rubble. She was having trouble, though, and it looked as if she were injured.

Without a moment's hesitation, Katsuki raced past the girl, and leaped.

Not even noticing how far up he had gone, Katsuki gritted his teeth and pulled his arm back, hands clenched into fists, and remembered what Toshinori had said.

"Rear your arm back, clench your ass super tight, and yell from the bottom of your heart, 'smash!'"

Katsuki, rebelliously, wanted to ignore Toshinori's words. Yelling 'smash' would be very stupid, but he still listened to the man, knowing how strong he was.

Katsuki pulled out a deep anger from within himself, and screamed "SMASH!" at the top of his lungs as he smashed his fist into the metal beast.

The zero-pointer caved in at his fist, and exploded.

Katsuki started to fall, but he didn't care.

He had just destroyed a giant robot. With his fist. And it had been _exhilarating!_ Punching the wall or some stupid punching bag had never been quite as satisfying as punching an asshole at his school, and now he knew how satisfying it was to punch a beast bigger and stronger than he could dream to be.

At least, that was before. Now, Katsuki had a quirk, and he might not be the _strongest_ (because he didn't know for sure, and _yeah,_ there was still All Might), but he was certainly strong.

Very strong. And it felt _good_.

Until it didn't. Once the adrenaline washed away, his arm hurt like _hell_ , and he grimaced, tears pricking at his eyes, but he refused to let them fall, his pride too strong for that.

Katsuki finally noticed the fall, the wind whipping at his hair, and realized that this is what he would've felt like if he had listened to the bullies at his school, and closed his eyes.

But that lasted about a second before he realized how stupid he was being, and roared at the top of his lungs, channeling the feeling he had felt when punching the zero-pointer, and tried to stick the landing, before a hand collided with his face.

He went flying to the side, and grimaced as he waited to smash into the ground.

It didn't happen, however, and he was suspended in the air. Katsuki stared at the ground, his mouth hanging open, mind blank, completely shocked.

He heard a quiet "Release," and he was dropped onto the ground. The fall brought Katsuki back to his senses, and he looked over to where he heard the voice from.

He saw the girl from before, and she was puking onto the ground from on top of a big piece of robot.

And then Katsuki startled, realizing he only had nine points. He hadn't even made it to ten!

Katsuki tried to pick himself up, but then noticed the state his legs were in, and choked back a scream.

He tried to crawl forward, push himself up, _anything_ , and growled desperately, "Dammit! Just one more point at least!"

"THE TEST IS OVER!" yelled Present-Mic over the intercom.

Katsuki groaned, and dropped his head, glaring at his only good limb underneath him as if it were _its_ fault he had lost.

He wanted to cry, but he pushed that down into the depths of his soul with everything else.

Even so, he felt tears pricking his eyes, and he reached up his other arm to wipe them away, only to promptly pass out from the pain.


	4. Chapter 4

Bakugou growled, staring at the spicy curry in his spoon, and then shoveled it into his mouth.

He wasn't about to let this get to him.

Everyone else could have sucked, and Bakugou could have just barely made it into the class, right?

...Obviously not, but it gave him a bit more courage.

And at the thought of stupid delusions giving him more courage, he slammed his spoon onto his plate and shouted.

He quickly shoveled all of his food into his mouth, licked the plate, and went to the kitchen to wash it.

Afterwards, he decided to check the mail one last time, walking down the stairs three doors down from his apartment, skipped a floor, then reached the ground. He turned on his heel, walking to the middle of the four doors on the ground floors, and reached his hand into his apartments mail slot, after unlocking it.

Inside was one envelope, and he slowly raised it out with anticipation.

"Holy fuck!" Bakugou yelled, seeing it was from UA, then clamped a hand over mouth.

Didn't want to be scolded for noise again, they might be fined this time.

Bakugou slammed the mail slot closed, locked it, and raced up the stairs, swinging his apartment door open and letting it slam behind him.

He plopped down on his couch and didn't hesitate to rip open the envelope, a metal device falling onto his lap.

The device lit up at the contact, and All Might's face was projected in front of Bakugou. A little too close for comfort, but Bakugou didn't care.

"Am I on screen?!" All Might exclaimed.

 _I thought this was from UA?_ Bakugou thought.

"It took some time to jump through some hoops and get this done, sorry for not contacting you sooner. That's my bad!" All Might continued.

It occurred to Bakugou that All Might hadn't contacted him in a while.

"I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other since it's been decided that I'll work at UA now, that is. What's that, citizen, turn to face camera 2?! I was in the middle of telling the boy something important… We'll fix it in post?! Ah, alright, that works…"

Bakugou had quite the disappointed look on his face. All Might had already given away the fact that Bakugou would be accepted, and yet he was bothering the camera man.

"Well, you did amazing on the written test! But, at a low practical skills rating, you barely passed. But wait, there's more!"

 _Get on to the fucking point!_

"I was an entertainer in a former life! Behold this screen!"

All Might turned around, and Bakugou could faintly hear a camera man say "turn your head," while All Might pressed a button on ihs remote.

The TV flickered to life, and it showed a somewhat familiar girl with brown hair standing.

"Uhh... excuse me, hi," she said awkwardly.

All Might paused and cut in "As soon as the exam ended, this little lady petitioned us directly! What about, you ask?! Don't touch that dial!"

The girl continued, "Uhh, sorry to bother you, but… do you know the boy with spiky blond hair? He's got red eyes, and, he's got, this sort of, uhh, angry look… Do you know who I'm talking about~?"

She waved her hand around her head while talking about Bakugou, the other hand occupied by her coat and bag.

"Would it be possible to share some of my points with him? He said something like 'just one more point!' So I gleamed that he didn't get many points…"

Bakugou gasped, then clamped his hands over his mouth, appalled at the thought of doing something so Deku-esque.

"Please at least give him the number of points he lost because of me!"

Bakugou almost felt touched, if at the same time he didn't feel denial at the fact that she thought he needed her help.

All Might smirked at the camera, "Much more than any 'quirk', it is your actions that have touched people."

The girl said one last thing, "That boy saved my life!"

The video stopped, and the camera faced towards All Might once again, with him crossing his arms in front of himself, "And the judges were looking for more than just smashing robots for points!"

In the video again, Present Mic patted the girl's head, "Sorry, missy, you can't share points, but I'm thinking you won't need to in the first place!"

All Might shouted, "Did you think there'd be a department of heroics that rejects an entrant for doing the right thing?! Perish the thought! Think it's cheesy?! Fine by me! It's in the job description! Laying your life on the line to do cheesy stuff! So take your rescue points! The judges all agree! They saw another foundational skill of heroics in you!"

"Bakugou Katsuki, 60 points. And while we're at it, Uraraka Ochako 45 points! Meaning… You passed, kid. Come on down, Bakugou my boy. UA's your new hero academia!"

The recording cut off, and Bakugou cheered. Almost instantly, he regretted it, but then he decided that he didn't care if he sounded like Deku.

* * *

"All Might!" Bakugou shouted angrily.

"What?! All Might? Where!" two tourists exclaimed.

"Don't say it so loud!" Toshinori scolded, proceeding to shout back, "He mistook him for someone else!"

All Might reached out a hand to Bakugou, going for a high five. Bakugou slapped his hand, hard, and Toshinori pulled away and rubbed his wrist.

"Congrats for passing. Of course, I didn't tell the school about our contact, you being the type to worry about connections."

Bakugou grumbled. "Whatever. I know I'm great, so I didn't need to worry about that. Anyways, what the hell is up with the whole 'breaking my arm' thing?! You didn't tell me about that! I mean, I really should've expected it, it's like a glass filled to much and I need to condition my body to hold this strength and learn to control the power, right?"

"Um, yes... Good job, my boy!" All Might yelled the last part, and Bakugou and him were forced to make a break for it.

* * *

"Hey, brat!" Bakugou's mom shouts.

"Yeah?" Bakugou replies, tying his shoes.

"Have a nice day of school."

Bakugou looked at his mom, surprised by the sudden act of kindness, before turning around, hiding his rapidly coloring face.

"Of fucking course!"

 **A/N: For clarity, Bakugou's apartment resembles the apartment building from Devil is a Part-Timer**


	5. Chapter 5

"Don't put your legs on the table! Don't you think that's disrespectful?!" the middle-aged looking glasses guy from the sports festival yells.

Bakugou scoffs. First day of school and he's already getting yelled at. He unconsciously puts his legs down. "Like I give a shit! Go away!"

"You should not curse like that in school! It's disrespectful! And you aren't wearing your uniform correctly!"

"What the fuck ever! What school are from anyway?"

"A private school," Iida said rudely.

Suddenly, Bakugou heard a snort from behind him. He turned to glare at the offender, but they just continued to laugh.

"T-that was a really sick burn. Pfffft, K-Kacchan do you-Ha!- do you need some ice for that burn?!" Deku burst out laughing again, and Glasses turned away, covering his mouth and shaking.

"Hah?! The fuck, Deku?! Who are you anyway, Glasses?!" Bakugou yelled, his face flushed red.

Glasses recovers, turning back to Bakugou. "My name is Iida Tenya. Nice to meet you."

Iida stuck out his hand for Bakugou to shake, and Bakugou took it, grumbling, "Bakugou Katsuki."

Before Iida could reply, the door to the classroom slid open.

A familiar brown-haired girl walked into the classroom, and then looked at Bakugou. "Oh! It's you! Spiky-hair kid! Glad I found you!"

Bakugou turned toward the girl, a scowl set on his face.

"You passed, just like Present Mic said you would! By the way, that punch was out of this world!" the girl praised, smiling.

Bakugou's scowl deepened. "Yeah, well, it wasn't like you helped."

Uraraka looked disappointed for a second, then she smiled again. "You're right. You got in by your own power."

Bakugou scoffed. "Damn right."

A voice sounded behind them. "If you're looking for buddies, do it someplace else."

Bakugou turned to look behind Uraraka, and saw a tired, dirty looking man sealed up in a sleeping bag on the ground like a caterpillar.

Bakugou snorted, and then choked on his urge to laugh when the man pulled out a straw pouch, and sucked all of the juice out, saying, "This is the department of heroics."

The class gathered around the door, staring at the man who was standing up and emerging from his cocoon.

"Hmm, it took you lot eight seconds to calm down. Life is short, kids. You're all lacking common sense."

 _...He looks washed out,_ Bakugou thought, scowling, and still trying not to laugh at the outrageous man.

"I'm Aizawa Shouta, your homeroom teacher. Pleasure meeting you," the man's voice is gruff, and sounds exhausted.

Bakugou scoffed. _What the hell is UA doing?! He looks ready to rape someone any minute now._

He almost felt bad for that statement, but then he looked at the washed-out man again.

"Wear these. Immediately. And then shove off to the P.E. grounds," the man said, shoving a uniform into Bakugou's face.

* * *

The class chattered for awhile at the sports grounds, Bakugou ignoring Deku's incessant mumbling.

Finally, Aizawa spoke when the last person came skittering out of the locker rooms, "We're going to be doing a quirk assessment test."

"What?!" the class exclaimed.

Deku stepped up, "What about the entrance exam?! And the guidance counselor meetings?!"

"If you want to be heroes, we don't have time for frilly niceties. You all understand the school's reputation for freedom on campus. Well, that 'freedom' goes for us teachers, too.

"Softball pitch, standing long jump, fifty meter dash, endurance running, grip strength test, sustained sideways jumps, upper body exercises, seated toe touch. These were all tests from middle school. Physical tests where you were banned from using your quirks. The country still hasn't gotten around to standardizing those sort of records or keeping track of average performance levels. Well, that's negligence on the part of the M.E.X.T.

"So you were planning on spending your three years here having a jolly good time? What happened to becoming heroes? New rule: the student who ranks last in total points will be judged 'hopeless' and expelled."

The whole class stood silent, shocked.

Except for Bakugou, who knew it was all a bluff, and silently scoffed at everyone's idiocy. _As if he'd have_ that _much freedom…_

"Our 'freedom' means we dispense students as we please! Welcome, to the department of heroics!"

 _ **Trial one: The fifty meter dash**_

 _ **Iida Tenya: 3.04 seconds**_

 _ **Asui Tsuyu: 5.58 seconds**_

 _ **Uraraka Ochako: 7.05 seconds**_

 _ **Aoyama Yuuga: 5.51 seconds**_

Bakugou braced himself at the starting line. He remembered at the entrance exams that his legs hadn't been hurt when he activated his power… Maybe it would work now, too?

He didn't want to risk it, so he decided against the idea.

"Start!"

Bakugou took off, running as fast as he could, he was surpassed by Deku, who was using his quirk to lift himself and propel him across the track.

 _ **Izuku Midoriya: 4.58 seconds**_

 _He really did train his quirk…_

Bakugou crossed the finish line, and sped to a halt.

 _ **Bakugou Katsuki: 6.59 seconds**_

 _ **Trial two: The grip strength test**_

Bakugou remembered what All Might had said to him the night he found out he'd passed the test.

" _You've already shown us your 100%! Now you need to control it! Remember how it felt! Don't let the egg explode!"_

At least, that was the jist of it.

Bakugou closed his eyes and growled in frustration.

 _Don't let the egg explode… Don't let the egg explode…_

He squeezed the grip tester as hard as he could.

It beeped. He opened his eyes.

 _60 kg_

 _...Fuck!_

 _ **Trial three: The standing long jump**_

Bakugou braced himself, and jumped.

...He landed on his feet, at least

 _ **Trial four: Sustained sideways jumps**_

 _That gross purple kid can do it, so I should be able to…_

 _ **Trial 5: The pitch**_

 _At this rate, I'm gonna be dead last… Well, I'm at least at the same level as the Kirishima kid. His quirk doesn't seem to work that well with these things…_

Bakugou braced himself for losing, being dead last. He was ready for it. He closed his eyes, the ball in his hand.

Then he snapped his eyes open and growled.

 _I'm not gonna be dead last! I don't give a fuck if what he said was a bluff or not!_

He heard some mumbling behind him. He knew it was Deku.

"Shut the fuck up, Deku!" Bakugou yelled, without even turning to look at him.

Bakugou channeled his inner power, clenched his ass (as per All Might's advice, he told himself), and threw it with all his might.

….And it dropped only a few meters in front of him.

"Fuck! What happened?!" Bakugou yelled.

"Fifty one meters," Aizawa drawled. "Is that the best you could do?"

Bakugou turned and glared at him.

"Huh, some quirk. I erased it."

 _What the fuck did he do that for?!_

"It defies reason. How did someone like you manage to get into this academy?"

Bakugou snapped. He was no longer listening to the man.

"From what I observed, you can't even-"

"DIE!" Bakugou yelled, using the full power of his quirk and propelling the ball forwards.

Aizawa stopped mid sentence, and stared. Then he took a look at his distance tracker.

 _708.5 meters_

Bakugou turned and looked at him, scowling. "I fucking did it and it doesn't hurt one fucking bit."


End file.
